My simple explanation, mainly when teaching kids, is that Yogis got their inspiration from admiring the nature and especially animals.. But there might be so much more behind!
"There are quite a few animal yoga poses.
Have you ever wondered how they got their names?
You may have noticed that there are quite a
few poses named after our animal friends. Along with the dog, this asana
menagerie includes other mammals (Cow, Camel, Cat, Horse, Lion, Monkey, Bull),
birds (Eagle, Peacock, Goose or Swan, Crane, Heron, Rooster, Pigeon,
Partridge), a fish and a frog, reptiles (Cobra, Crocodile, Tortoise), and
arthropods (Locust, Scorpion, Firefly). There’s even a pose named after a
mythic sea monster, the makara, the Hindu zodiac’s Capricorn, which is pictured
as having the head and forelegs of a deer and the body and tail of a fish.
Of course, the animal most revered by
Hindus is the cow. Everything associated with or issuing from the cow is
considered holy, even the dust stirred by its passing and the hoofprints left
behind. Alas, the dog—despite the contemporary popularity of its eponymous
pose—doesn’t fare as well in India, where many folks consider Fido unclean and
go to great lengths to avoid the slightest contact. But here and there in the
old books we find a dog that someone loved. One famous instance occurs near the
end of the Mahabharata, India’s monumental national epic. The god Indra invites
the hero-king Yudhishthira (pronounced you-dish-TEER-ah) into heaven, if only
he’ll “cast off” his loyal canine companion. The righteous king refuses,
saying, “I do not wish for prosperity if I have to abandon a creature who is
devoted to me.” As it turns out, the dog is none other than Dharma, the god of
virtue; upon hearing these words, he assumes his true form and says to
Yudhishthira, “There is no one in heaven equal to you.”"
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